New England Biolabs® celebrates 40 years of passion in science

Ipswich, MA (January 20, 2015) For 40 years, New England Biolabs (NEB®) has been a world leader in the production and supply of reagents for the life sciences industry. In celebration of its 40th anniversary, NEB introduced the Passion in Science Awards™ to acknowledge members of the scientific community working to make a difference. This past year, NEB was also recognized for its outstanding product quality, with a Life Science Industry Award® (LSIA), and its unique corporate culture, by the Boston Globe Top Places to Work Survey.

Founded in 1974 as a supplier of enzymes for genomics research, NEB’s portfolio has expanded to include products for the synthetic biology, molecular diagnostics, next generation sequencing and glycobiology communities, among others.

“My vision for New England Biolabs was simple: to clone and express proteins on a commercial scale to supply the growing molecular biology community,” shared Don Comb, Ph.D., Founder of NEB. “Over the past 40 years, it has been exciting to watch the company grow and turn into a hub of scientific exchange, as well as to provide reagents to scientists worldwide.”

Comb and colleagues founded NEB with the closely held values of scientific excellence, environmentally friendly business practices, humanitarianism, and a love of the arts. These values have led to the establishment of on-site philanthropic research labs dedicated to neglected tropical diseases, as well as green manufacturing and shipping practices.

In keeping with that ethos, NEB celebrated its 40th anniversary by establishing the Passion in Science Awards™, which recognize scientists for inspiring, compassionate, and creative work. From a pool of hundreds of applicants, 15 scientists were selected to receive the award. The awardees, whose stories are available on NEB’s website, include both young scientists—such as Tal Danino, a synthetic biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is raising money for cancer research by selling artistic micrographs of tessellated cancer cells and bacteria—as well as established scientists—such as Baylor University Professor Lori Baker, who risks her personal safety to visit migrants’ graves along the U.S.–Mexico border, test DNA, and use the results to bring closure to the migrants’ families.

Part of NEB’s success has been the loyalty of its customers, who value the company’s high-quality reagents that deliver reproducible results. This year, the Life Science Industry Awards ranked NEB the highest among all companies supplying “Molecular Biology Products”, based on customer reports that they would choose to buy from NEB again due to their experience with product purity, performance, and technical support.

“When customers contact NEB technical support, they speak directly to the scientist developing, manufacturing or carrying out research on that product, ensuring that they get the information they need to do their research. Developing and maintaining a good relationship with our customers is a priority for NEB, as is ensuring the integrity of our products through extensive quality controls and validation protocols,” said Maurice Southworth, Director of Production at NEB.

NEB’s unique corporate culture, which values each employee as an individual, has fostered a true sense of family – a family that has grown significantly in the past few years. Maintaining the corporate culture in the face of such growth is a high priority for NEB, and this attention to maintaining a strong culture is central to employee satisfaction. Among the indicators of employee satisfaction, none is more gratifying than to be ranked in the Boston Globe Top Places to Work survey. NEB ranked third amongst large companies (250-999 employees), which echoes the satisfaction of NEB employees in the following categories: company direction, execution, employee connection, workload and responsibility, management, and pay/benefits.

“Employees who are challenged by their work on a daily basis, and who genuinely care about their co-workers, are more fulfilled and motivated, and that’s part of NEB’s secret,” shared Jim Ellard, CEO of NEB. “My responsibility as CEO is to encourage our employees to seek challenges and engage in exciting work – and I’m routinely impressed and inspired by their results.”


About New England Biolabs

Established in the mid 1970's, New England Biolabs, Inc. is the industry leader in the discovery and production of enzymes for molecular biology applications and now offers the largest selection of recombinant and native enzymes for genomic research. NEB continues to expand its product offerings into areas related to PCR, gene expression, sample preparation for next generation sequencing, cellular analysis, epigenetics and RNA analysis. Additionally, NEB is focused on strengthening alliances that enable new technologies to reach key market sectors. New England Biolabs is a privately held company, headquartered in Ipswich, MA, and has extensive worldwide distribution through a network of exclusive distributors, agents and seven subsidiaries located in Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the UK.

For more information about New England Biolabs visit www.neb.com.

NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS® and NEB® are registered trademarks of New England Biolabs, Inc.
PASSION IN SCIENCE AWARDS™ is a trademark of New England Biolabs, Inc.

LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY AWARDS® is a registered trademark of BioInformatics, LLC.

Contact information:
Deana D. Martin, Ph.D.
Marketing Communications Manager
New England Biolabs
240 County Road
Ipswich, MA 01938
Tel: 978-380-7464
Email: martin@neb.com



1/20/2015

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